2019 - Second Quarterly Review

To assist my blog readers, I've decided to summarize my reading four times a year, providing a brief description, the page count, and a grading scale (5 thumbs up - Highly Recommend, 4 thumbs up - Enjoyed, 3 thumbs up - Good, but not as satisfying as I'd hoped, 2 thumbs up - Meh, and 1 thumb down - Regret, wishing I could get back the time invested). I might also document the mention of agents in the acknowledgement section - this is primarily for my own purposes, since it benefits a writer to know what agents represented similar works.

I read the following books during the second quarter of 2019 (for my full review, click on title):


The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight by Satchin Panda, PhD - A leading researcher in circadian rhythm science encourages readers to schedule their eating, exercising, and sleeping in alignment with their circadian rhythm to work with the body instead of against the body in fighting weight gain, digestive conditions, and chronic ailments. - 238 pages, 👍👍👍👍

I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel - Modern Mrs. Darcy blogger outlines the joys and frustrations of being a bibliophile. - 145 pages, 👍👍👍👍

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman - Elsa's grandmother sends her on a scavenger hunt to locate and deliver several letters to her closest neighbors, friends, and relatives, conveying her sympathies and apologies. In fulfilling this task, Elsa not only gets to know those around her, but comes to understand the purpose and meaning of her own life. - 370 pages, 👍👍👍👍-1/2

Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives by Hoda Kotb - Biographies of six individuals who overcame extreme adversity to meet their goals and triumph over tragedy. - 240 pages, 👍👍👍

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald - Abi Knight not only discovers her teenage daughter is brain-dead and pregnant, but also learns how damaging deception and infidelity can be. - 339 pages, 👍👍

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - Catherine Morland is thrilled with her invitation to spend time with the Tilney family at Northanger Abbey but must deal with the quirks of society manners and expectations. - (I listened in audio form, 7 CDs, 8-1/4 hours), 👍👍

Candy Cane Murder by Joanne Fluke - Hannah Swensen finds the body of department store owner, Wayne Bergstom, in the snow and follows the clues to find the murderer, while offering up a dozen recipes. - 148 pages, 👍👍

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig - Tom Hazard, who ages slowly, must avoid staying in one place too long and falling in love or else scientists might get ahold of him and use him as a lab rat to determine how to increase longevity. A historical, philosophical story meant to encourage the reader to live in the moment. - 325 pages, 👍👍👍-1/2

Letters Never Sent by Ruth E. Van Reken - Ruth's life, as a missionary kid, evoked feelings of loneliness, anger, insecurity, and guilt and she processes those feelings fully in a this series of letters. - 165 pages, 👍👍👍

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro - When the author's DNA test confirms that her father is not her biological father, she goes on a quest to discover her origins. In the process, she struggles with the ethics of infertility treatments using donor sperm, the fallout of her family's secret, and the meaning it all has for her self-perception. - 249 pages, 👍👍👍👍

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - A poignant coming-of-age story full of racial tension and social commentary, treating ideas of equality, justice, and kindness. - 384 pages (I listened in audio form, 11 CDs, 12-1/4 hours), 👍👍👍👍👍

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives by Matt Richtel - Weaving scientific discoveries with real-life patient stories, Richtel covers a tremendous amount of ground in explaining the immune system and how it both functions and, sometimes, malfunctions. - 409 pages, 👍👍👍👍

Listen to the Marriage by John Jay Osborn - An inside look into a couple's marriage as the counselor encourages the couple, Steve and Gretchen, to listen to their marriage as a third party in the equation. - 246 pages, 👍👍👍-1/2

Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke - Book 11 in the Hannah Swensen murder mystery series - Hannah is on a diet, yet still manages to whip up a dozen new cookie recipes and solve the murder of the town's chief flirt and man-stealer. - 304 pages, (I listened in audio form, 8 CDs, 9-3/4 hours), 👍👍

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray - Three sisters, rocked by the wounds of the past, navigate healing and forgiveness as one sister is incarcerated, one cares for the incarcerated sister's teenaged daughters, and the final sister battles an eating disorder. - 291 pages, 👍👍👍

Elevation by Stephen King - When a man begins steadily losing weight without changing in appearance, he knows that something is up, but doesn't wish to be poked and prodded. Combined with a small story about a widower who takes on a new puppy. - 160 pages, (I listened in audio form, 3 CDs, 3-1/2 hours), 👍👍👍

Educated by Tara Westover - Deprived of a standard education while growing up with a fearful father, the author left her rural roots to pursue an education and, in gaining one, found herself anew. - 329 pages, 👍👍👍👍👍

Point of View: A Fresh Look at Work, Faith, and Freedom by Elizabeth Hasselbeck - A book about a talk show host's journey to making God's point of view her own point of view and getting along with others whose viewpoints differ. - 244 pages (I listened in audio form, 5 CDs, 5 hours), 👍👍👍-1/2

Things My Son Needs to Know About the World by Fredrik Backman - Funny observations about parenthood and life, rather rambling but full of wit and wisdom. - 193 pages, 👍👍👍

The Broken Road by Richard Paul Evans -  Charles James grew up dumpster diving for subsistence, but found passion and wealth in his twenties, so why is he now walking Route 66 and fleeing this coveted lifestyle? - 304 pages (I listened in audio form, 5 CDs, 6 hours), 👍👍-1/2

Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books by Nick Hornby - A compilation of Hornby's monthly column, "Stuff I've Been Reading," for Believer magazine, outlining books bought and read, with extensive commentary on books, reading, and writing. - 464 pages, 👍👍👍👍

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See - Raised in a remote Chinese village with a myriad of superstitious beliefs, Li-yan flees her home to save her illegitimate newborn from certain death. As the decades unfold, the daughter (abandoned at an orphanage and adopted by an American couple) and mother seek each other through information about the Pu'er tea trade (the only identifying marker the daughter has). - 364 pages, 👍👍👍👍

Book Review: Ten Years in the Tub

If you frequent my blog, chances are strong you take pleasure in following another person's reading path. Have I got a book for you! A book full of news about what a famous writer is reading and recommending. Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books compiles Nick Hornby's Believer magazine columns on books, reading, and writing. To say I could relate to his literary cogitations is an understatement. So many times, he addresses the questions looming in my head: "Why do I read? What do I hope to gain from this obsession? Why the drive to find the most excellent books available? And, as I fight against the burden of this blog, Why do I continue to pitch books to others when no popular magazine is paying me to record books bought and read?"

I first encountered Nick Hornby when I happened upon one of his lesser-known novels, How to Be Good. Published in 2001, I read it after a time of separation from my husband and before the birth of our second son. Although I couldn't tell you what the book is about, I vividly recall feeling that the author must have climbed inside my head and taken dictation. I scrambled for a piece of paper to copy resonating passages. Surely those scraps are somewhere in my basement in the piles and piles of paper my husband wishes I would sort and purge.

I also thoroughly enjoyed About a Boy. Hornby weaves such a tender relationship between the adolescent and the young man (who uses the boy in a twisted plot to woo women). While his books on music or sports never drew me, I eagerly joined my book club in reading A Long Way Down, several years ago. Sadly, I didn't connect with the characters, despite having experienced their struggle. (I even wrote a second review, worried my first review sounded insensitive to those suffering suicidal thoughts).

A reader cannot look for book advice from just anyone. You seek someone whose interests and thoughts parallel your own. This explains my dissatisfaction with Will Schwalbe's End of Your Life Book Club. So few titles mentioned in that book were on my radar. Although I wouldn't say Nick Hornby is a book twin (a term from Anne Bogel's I'd Rather Be Reading), someone whose reading tastes align with my own, I could enjoy many of his discussions over books I've read. At 464 pages, I admit I skimmed many paragraphs detailing books that didn't interest me, but sought Hornby's opinions on my favorite books, like Gilead, The Man Who Was Thursday, Ready Player One, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and any and all references to Charles Dickens (my one-time favorite author, but rarely read now).

I came away with plenty of books I'd like to look into further. He mentioned a series of funny books with boy appeal (Andy Stanton's Mr. Gum books) that I intend to seek for my youngest son. After writing his one YA novel, he recommended several interesting YA authors I've never attempted: David Almond, M.T. Anderson, Phillipa Pearce, and Philip Pullman. He referenced several books about writing/creativity: Like a Fiery Elephant, Ghosting, Imagine: How Creativity Works, This is Your Brain on Music, and The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. And he raved about Cheryl Strayed's Wild, a book my book club read, but I missed (a timing issue).

During his initial columns, it seemed Hornby was one of those atheists angry with the very entity they deny. But, over time his attitudes softened. Indeed, later book purchases indicated he was more spiritually receptive. First, he purchased 36 Arguments for the Existence of God. When he bought and read Francis Spufford's Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense, he wrote: "I'm not as young as I was: I am fast approaching the age where I need the answers to questions of metaphysical speculation," and acknowledged "the increasingly pressing need to find out whether He [God] is real." His conclusion seemed fair: "The best reason to read the book is that it enables thought, specifically thought about who we are and what we're doing here and how we intend to negotiate the difficulties and tragedies that are unavoidably a part of being human.... I have not become a Christian as a result of reading this book, but I have a much greater respect for those who are. And I intend to read it again, soon; there was a lot of thought enabled--too much, maybe, for a tired man at the end of a hard year."

Reflecting on Hornby's columns, I'd have to say I would much prefer to write my blog in Hornby's monthly structure (although I seldom buy books). Still, I hope my blog achieves his dual goals: encouraging other readers, and providing a glimpse into who I am based upon the books I select and either love or disdain. And if he didn't offer enough titles to add to my TBR list, I can always seek a further resource he cited: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Hopefully, I have enough mentally conducive years left in me to reach that number.

Book Review: The Broken Road

This relatively new series by Richard Paul Evans, The Broken Road series, begins with an intriguing premise, but takes the entire first book to get to the meat of the matter. Much back story brings the reader to the question of what if you could start over afresh? Charles James, a descendant of outlaw Jesse James, leads wealth seminars and makes a butt-load of money (in many ways, its own form of robbery). In this first installment, we meet him out on the open road of Route 66 and learn that he was presumed dead and has taken this new-found freedom to trek the "broken road." But, the majority of the book is spent laying out his back-story and what led him to disappear and walk from Chicago to California. Bad choices abound. Love is found and lost. The Almighty Dollar is chased. I'm not saying I won't continue with the series (as always, I'm eager for any clean read in audio form), but I'm assuming it will get more to the heart of the matter in the following books of the series. The back cover promises, "an engrossing, contemplative story of redemption and grace and the power of second chances." I'm hoping to get to the redemption soon, because most of book one was the road to ruin. Thankfully, the story was absorbing enough to keep my feet trekking away on my treadmill miles.

Book Review: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

What a beautiful book club read! As I closed The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, I marveled at how the story came together. I mean that in two ways. One, the author performed an amazing feat of bringing the story elements to a satisfying and telling conclusion. Two, it was amazing to learn in the acknowledgements section about how the story, the novel itself, came together and grew in the author's heart and mind. I always love following the rabbit trails that lead a person to an idea that becomes a germ that becomes a plot that becomes a full-fledged story. Plus, I could relate to her explanation about the title coming first. One of my novels, Dream-catcher and the Frog-kisser, unfolded that way. One night the title popped into my head and before long the conflicted characters appeared and the story developed.

But back to Lisa See's grand accomplishment. After thorough research, she presented a fascinating and educational experience. I rooted for the endearing characters as they faced tragic obstacles and cultural constructs. Moreover, I ended the book with a sense of satisfaction for a story well-told, something that doesn't happen often enough for me these days in my reading.

Li-yan lives in an isolated, backwards village in China. The Akha villagers grow a special tea called Pu'er. They practice ceremonial cleansing and cling to many superstitious beliefs, seeking the advice of holy men for every personal and corporate issue. As Li-yan's mother, the village mid-wife, teaches her the trade, Li-yan witnesses the birth of twins. Strangely, they perceive this as an evil they must eradicate by killing the cursed babies. Li-yan is bright enough to leave the village and pursue an education, yet she ends up pregnant and unwed (the father, off in Thailand securing the means to marry her). She knows the villagers will view her child as equally cursed. Thus, she flees to a distant city and leaves her baby, in a box with a tea cake, on an orphanage doorstep. When the baby's father returns, they marry and try to retrieve their daughter. Sadly, a couple in the United States have already adopted the baby.

This book was so thought provoking. I loved learning about the Akha people and the Pu'er tea trade. As with Tara Westover's Educated, I contemplated the impact a family has in shaping an individual's identity and perceptions. Like Westover, Li-yan leaves her family and cultural identity behind to pursue life in a wider sphere. The book highlights the tension between family loyalty and personal fulfillment. An even greater tension stems from the bond between mothers and daughters. I ached for Li-yan and her daughter, as each separately longs for information about the other. The book prompted thoughts about the intensity of family bonds, the emotional fallout of adoption, and the importance of cultural and personal identity. Indeed, I would recommend it to my mother, if she could still follow a book's progression. Despite uncomfortable details, the story is well worth digesting. I look forward to our book club discussion.

Book Review: Things My Son Needs to Know About the World

Being a mother of boys, this title stands out, but the author name stands out even more. I loved Fredrik Backman's bestseller A Man Called Ove. This book, Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, provides a lighthearted look at parenting. Given the fact that Backman's son is a mere toddler, he's not far enough into the process to offer extensive advice on the heavy topics of parenting teenagers (please tell me we'll all survive this), but he brought me back to those sleepless nights of the early years.

At times the book was laugh-out-loud funny. My favorite chapter was a brief one called "Why It's Not Worth Arguing With Your Mother." The volley action is hilarious. Each paragraph begins with "I wonder ...," "Your mother wonders ...," "I wonder...," and so on, until the conclusion answers all doubts, as mother wins. Backman is a consummate storyteller. I could not begin to tell whether all the details were factual, but he spins a good yarn regardless. Tucked in among the bits of humor, Backman laces plenty of truthful observation about life. I still much prefer his fiction, but this was a gentle little jaunt into the author's mind.

Book Review: Point of View

I happened upon this book on the new reads shelf of my library and might have missed it otherwise. It isn't a title I would have sought, apart from seeking a clean read for my audio fare. But, it fit the bill perfectly. Finally, an audio book where my husband and sons can walk into my exercise room and, instead of hearing smut or filthy language, can overhear Biblical references and encouraging words.

Although vaguely aware of Elizabeth Hasselbeck, I had no clue she had been a contestant on Survivor (don't watch television). I knew she served on the panel of The View as the sole Christian conservative voice. In Point of View: A Fresh Look at Work, Faith, and Freedom, I learned that this petite, attractive woman has a firm grasp on the Word of God.

I'm not sure what category this book falls in - it is part memoir, part pep-talk, part self-help, part devotional - but even though the category was fluid, the lessons and life observations were beneficial and Biblical. I enjoy listening to the life story of someone else. It is encouraging to see the way God has led and worked in another person's life. Although we are different in personality (wow - is she a driven individual!), I could relate to most of what she presented and I share her desire to filter everything through the lens of God's perspective, especially through the lens of His Word, the Bible. I appreciated her wisdom about getting along with individuals whose belief-systems don't match yours. I hope my approach to others is as humble and welcoming.

Book Review: Educated - Highly Recommend

I confess, I  was dragging my feet. I'm not sure why. Despite being aware of the long hold line for Tara Westover's memoir, Educated, I had already taken and lost one chance to read the book. Back in January, my fellow book club members selected this book for our September slot. As soon as I checked my library, I realized I might not secure it in time. I think I was 17th on the hold list when I first added my name. In my head, I formed an argument: "I couldn't get ahold of the book, so I will skip this month's meeting." Then, fate offered a boon - one of the library book clubs planned to read the book for their May meeting and I could secure a copy from their reserves. Alas, April dissolved without my cracking the cover. Furthermore, I ended up having a conflict with the afternoon of the library's meeting, so I returned the book unread.

No worries! My name came up earlier than expected on the lengthy hold list. Was this because the other readers devoured it in short order? Still, I delayed. A week before the book was due back to the library, I considered returning it unread. In retrospect, I'm grateful I abandoned that choice. Once I dove into the first official page, I was a goner. This book is so compulsively readable! It swept me away until I was fully immersed in the author's terrifying world. It was a darned fascinating story (one night, my husband had to tell me to put the book down and go to bed)!

Raised in a non-traditional family, Tara Westover tells a riveting and unforgettable life story. As her father prepared for the end of the world, she passed most of her childhood stockpiling food and ammunition without darkening a door to a school. She didn't home-school either. Instead, she spent her time working for her father scrapping metal on their mountain. How striking that someone passed such a large chunk of her childhood unaware of the blessings and joys of learning. And she was smarter than your average unschooled-urchin.

What a family she had! Her father attempted to insulate them from the evils all around: the wicked government, the worldly Mormons, the invasive medical establishment (mankind's healing in opposition to God's healing), and the threat of any system outside their family life. Tara's story is full of harrowing medical crises met with a reliance on herbs and home remedies alone. Alas, while fighting off external evils, the family failed to resist internal evils. Tara suffered horrendous abuse from a violent and manipulative older brother. Yet, the family not only remained silent and passive, but claimed Tara was the problem. Any difficulty stemmed from her evil heart and her intent to tear the family apart by addressing the issues of abuse.

It was no surprise that, when an older brother left to try his hand at college, Tara's curiosity began to build. She, too, left the confining home to spread her wings, first timidly, then defiantly. She studied at Brigham Young University, Cambridge, and Harvard. Throughout her story, she details what it felt like to come from such a conflicting background. In college, she encountered things she had never heard of: the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. She shares her experience as an outsider steadily growing comfortable in someone else's perspectives and worldview. What I appreciated most was her realistic internal conflict between supporting her family and breaking from them to experience life from a new point of view.

As I read, I longed to rescue this poor thing from the physical and emotional abuses. I rooted for her to flee and escape her narrow prison. But, it made me contemplative, too. I thought about the value of education, about difficulty with family loyalty when abuse is present, and about God's intended framework for the family. I believe God desires a husband to be the head of a home and to lead and guide his wife and children as Christ laid down his life for the church, His bride. Unfortunately, not all men lead with Christ-like headship. Too often they lead from a place of fear, as Tara's father did. Wishing to control every aspect of their lives, they assert their wills against others and push them down to obey their dictates and desires. God doesn't intend for us to live lives of fear from surrounding evil. He has conquered sin and darkness. He wants us to strive to live in the light, and with full reliance on Him, not ourselves.

Tara's parents sought to win her to the right side by anointing her and convincing her to set aside her involvement with the world. Thus, my thoughts went to true conversion and how it takes place through surrender to the sacrifice made for our sin by our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is not in the anointing. It is not in renouncing worldliness (although once you've accepted His blood covering your sin, you long to renounce anything not from Him). It comes solely through Christ's act on the cross to cancel our debt of sin. We need not fear evil's hold on the world, because "perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18) Yet, this was a tale of extreme fear and its hold on a family.

Educated is a story of an individual breaking into the sunlight of learning and knowledge after living in the forbidding shadowy trees of her family life. It is a tale of passing from a life of limitations to a life of freedom. A beacon of hope, it challenges us to identify fears that may hold us hostage. The book is so well-written it will sweep you away while allowing you to walk alongside something you could experience no other way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Educated. As I closed the last page, I wondered if the author wrote the final lines first. They pack a powerful punch and draw every argument to its apt conclusion. I wanted to write to the author to commend her for her triumph and to thank her for her courage in sharing her story with the world at large. As memoirs go, this one was downright enticing and provided plenty of poignant take-away. Now, I just have to wait out the intervening months between reading the book and discussing it with fellow book club members in September. Hmm, if I put my name on the hold list now, will it come around again by mid-September?

Book Review: Elevation

So often when I run into the library to pick out an audio book for my treadmill sessions, I barely have time to make a careful decision about my selection. This was the case again. I grabbed this Stephen King novella, Elevation, for two reasons: it was short, at only 3-1/2 hours long; and it was by an author I know has outstanding skill. I'm not generally in the market for his books, however, because I don't relish horror novels. Still, I have great respect for his abilities as an author (and highly recommend his memoir/writing book, On Writing, for any writers).

Thankfully, apart from a generous helping of profanity (I knew that was coming), I enjoyed this story. Moreover, it was my final selection to listen to without boys possibly in the vicinity (during their last days of the school year), and I can overlook the cursing (just don't enjoy telling my boys not to curse and then listening to books filled with the vile words). It wasn't really a horror story. It was a great example of an author's skill to tease out a new and fresh "what if?" question. Here, the question centered on the idea of losing weight in a non-traditional way.

Scott Carey confides to his retired doctor friend that he is losing weight but not growing thinner. The scale doesn't register his clothing or even the many coins he jams into his pockets, attempting to alter the scale's readout. The weight loss continues steadily, picking up speed, as he counts down to the d-day when he will have no weight at all.

As an added benefit, King tags on a small story called "Lloyd" at the end of the audio book. It was a tight little story about a man grieving the loss of his wife. His sister thinks he would benefit from responsibility for a puppy. I was a bit shocked by the ending, but enjoyed the characters and the engrossing story line.